This last week was Graduation weekend and it was awesome on so many levels. I was honored to be Valedictorian of this year’s graduating class, giving the Valedictorian address at the Graduation Banquet the evening before the commencement ceremonies. Because not everyone was able to attend the banquet, I thought I would post a written copy of my address here…

Good evening Board of Trustees, Faculty, Staff, family, friends, honored guests and most importantly, those we are honoring tonight: the Taylor Seminary Graduating Class of 2008.

As I was reflecting on my words for this evening, Taylor’s mission to develop Christ-minded leaders who make a difference in the world kept coming to mind. Consequently, I want to share a couple observations from the New Testament story of Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch about some important and vital truths we all must remember as we seek to serve God in his world.

Many of you will probably be familiar with this story that is found in Acts Chapter 8 and I am also sure there are some here who are less than familiar with it. Therefore, let me set the stage for the narrative we will look at this evening.

At the beginning of Chapter 8 we find Phillip ministering in Samaria with great success. We read that “crowds” were coming out to hear him speak and perform miracles. In fact, Luke tells us that not only were crowds gathering, but Phillip’s ministry saw a difference being made in his world. Luke even describes the mood of the entire city being transformed into one of “great joy.” In all accounts, Phillip was experiencing numerical success in ministry that would have gotten him acclaim, popularity, and if this took place in our culture today: interviews on popular TV programs and most definitely a book deal with Zondervan. He was experiencing numerical success and in that success, God does something completely unexpected, He sends an angel to tell Phillip to “Go south on the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

As Phillip walks along the road he notices an important Ethiopian official reading the Book of Isaiah and the Spirit tells Phillip to go and stay near him. God calls Phillip away from a ministry to thousands in order to travel to a ministry of one. As Phillip asks the Ethiopian questions and explains the meaning of Isaiah, the Ethiopian comes to know Christ and like a good Baptist, he sees water on their journey and asks to be baptized.

In the middle of great numerical success, God calls Phillip to take a lonely journey down a dusty desert road and moves Phillip from ministry to hundreds/thousands to a ministry of one, shattering what I term the “exaltation of efficiency.”

We live in a culture that values efficiency at a rapidly growing pace. In fact, recent studies say that fuel efficiency has now become the number one customer concern for new cars, topping safety which has led the way for many years. You see this translated into appliance and furnace purchases, employer/employee relationship strategies, leadership material, and time management programs. The value of efficiency is pervasive and even sneaks its way into “ministry” as well. Although we will all serve and lead in different ways and in different ministries, we will all be faced with this “exaltation of efficiency” at some point as we lead.

Some of us will face the “exaltation of efficiency” when our ministries are not experiencing numerical growth. We serve in a culture (Evangelical Church culture) that often defines ministry success solely in numerical terms. If God is calling you to be a pastor, you will experience this with attendance, commitment, membership, or baptism numbers. If God is calling you to be a missionary, you will experience this when you come home from the mission field as people ask you how many people came to Christ. If God calls you to be a Sunday school teacher or Bible study leader, people will ask how many are coming to your class every week. And sadly, it is not just those on the outside who ask these questions but we ask them of ourselves (consciously and sub-consciously), often making decisions on our future and self-worth solely based on a numerical evaluative scale. The problem is that success is not simply numbers. Success must always be holistic in nature. The problem is that, we as leaders, too often assume our definition of success is God’s definition. Phillip’s ministry to the Ethiopian was no less successful than Philip’s ministry to the crowds in Samaria. We must always remember that in God’s economy the ministry to the one is equally important as the ninety-nine.

Some of us will face the “exaltation of efficiency” when God calls us to a ministry that doesn’t make earthly sense. In the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian, we notice Phillip being called by God from a large ministry to a ministry of one. In our culture where we exalt efficiency, it is difficult to imagine moving down the “corporate ladder” of ministry; however, I would suggest there are times when God might be calling us to do just that. God may call one of us to walk down the corporate ministry ladder and walk alone on a dusty road, not because he is punishing us but because in his economy efficiency and productivity are viewed on a different dimension. May we have the courage to follow God’s call wherever it leads, even if it breaks our culture’s view of what we should be doing or what is “successful.”

Some of us will face the “exaltation of efficiency” when ministry is extremely difficult – when we struggle with discouragement and disillusionment. Some of us will serve in ministries that are less than numerically successful and will be tempted to quit. Some of us will be called to serve in places that make no earthly or career sense. But all of us will experience the fact that ministry and leadership is hard, ministry and leadership is demanding, and serving against the tide of efficiency can be very, very difficult.

As we attempt, with God’s help and empowerment, to be Christ minded leaders who make a difference in our world, we must always have a Christ-centered view of ministry that understands the one as equally important as the ninety-nine, we must always be willing to serve and at times follow God down the corporate ladder, and we must always remember that although it is hard, we are not alone and it is worth it.

Our world is in desperate need of Christ-minded leaders who will not just make a difference but who are radically different in both their character and their perspective.

May we be those kind of leaders, seeking God’s glory and not our own.